The meeting between a grandmother and Pope Francis greatly moved and amused both on social networks. The pontiff’s reaction was unanimous.
Five women from the same family went to Rome to discover the city. As they tell it on the networks, during their stay, they wanted to see Pope Francis. They then tried to approach him, during the papal audience celebrated every Wednesday at the Vatican. The grandmother of the family was already delighted to be able to see him on this occasion: “I am overjoyed. We are going to see Pope Francis. How beautiful it is. It is worth the fear I experienced in the “plane”, she declared on social networks, just before taking her place in the space dedicated to meeting the pope.
He ended up walking right past her with his wheelchair, a real nice surprise. The grandmother then dared to approach him and gave him a gift: an image of the Virgin of Rocio. This is the Virgin who is located in the village of El Rico, a place of pilgrimage in Spain. It attracts hundreds of thousands of pilgrims every year at Pentecost. The grandmother then kissed his hand, while expressing her joy at meeting him. “A joy to see you, father,” she added. Meeting the religious man was truly a dream for her. She confided in the Pope: “I didn’t want to die without having seen you.”
If the grandmother’s emotion touched us, it was above all the Pope’s response which amused: “But don’t worry, come back in ten years”, he said, as if to assure that she like him were sure to be as fit many years from now. The scene was shared on video on social networks. It has been viewed no less than 372,000 times.
If this reaction appears as a compliment to the grandmother and also shows the humor of Pope Francis, it also responds, in a certain way, to the rumors about the health of Pope Francis. The 87-year-old Argentinian has, in fact, shown some physical weaknesses recently: he appears a lot in a wheelchair, as is the case in the video above. His movements are increasingly limited. For example, he refused to attend Good Friday mass during Easter weekend.
Pope Francis, however, does not intend to abandon his post even though he has entered his eleventh year of pontificate. “We do not lead with one knee, but with the head,” he declared according to Franceinfo. This exchange clearly proves that the pontiff will continue to fight: taking into account the estimated ten years, he even seems to be aiming for almost a hundred years.